Sociology 255

I read and commented on Raquel’s post about the black female doll and wondered if perhaps the doll most worth making is one of a black man.  Barack would be a good place to start, but what should a black male doll look like?  I mentioned in my comment the problems I have with dolls such as GI Joes and Barbies (encourage certain gender identities), but I hadn’t really thought about racial identies w/ dolls until Raquel’s post.  So my thought question is, what should a black male doll look like?  Do any exist?  I guess you could get a LeBron, Obama, or 50 cent doll, but what would/should a generic black male doll be like?

Today and throughout the semester, we talked alot about what race you identify with, is Hispanic a race, the ambiguities of biracialism, and people’s struggle with their inability to identify with a race.  While I think these are fascinating topics, in my opinion we obessess way too much with the question “What are you?” or “What is s/he?”

I think it comes down to people having a need to identify with a group.  I think that need for identification leads to excessive pride once you have a group, which in turns leads to a strong ingroup-outgroup bias toward other races.  I came to college with a ton of Irish pride and pride for my neighborhood.  I  automatically hated all the Northsiders (of Chicago) I met and loved any Irish person I met.  The more I thought about it though, the more I thought how pointless it was to have pride for your ethnic heritage or your city.

I also think academia and the rest of educators really exacerbate this obsession with race (part of the holy trinity of race, class, and gender).  All I think it does is stratify us rather than unite us.  I embrace the ideals of cultural diversity, but I think all races can find some common ground to mutually identify with.  I think it would be refreshing if we stopped obsessing over which box you should check, what race you belong to, and start seeing everyone as part of one group.

I know some people might say, “Well I identify as [x] because that’s how society sees me and treats me.”  I say we should stop taking cues from the rest of society and start being more proactive about improving race relations rather than further separating them.  I don’t take pride anymore in the accomplishments of Irish people, whom I have never met and was even alive to see them.  The same goes with my city.  So for me now, I identify as Tom Byrne.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Apparently President Obama has some Irish blood in him and is not hesitant to admit it.  His great-great-great grandfather hailed from Ireland.  Clearly this does not change his “master status,” but it is interesting to note.  I want to know, though, how does everyone feel about St. Patrick’s Day?  I heard some Black students talking outside the Pub yesterday, saying “well I’m not Irish, why should we celebrate white day?”  I have a similiar sentiment; it seems not only dumb, but a little ridiculous to have a holiday that primarily exists presently as a celebration of whiteness.  How does everyone feel about President Obama claiming some Irish ancestory and the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day as a whole??

In today’s class discussion reflecting on Cross’ theory,  many fabulous questions and comments arose on the assessment. Yet the one statement that stuck out the most was one’s own race putting someone in a box rather than an outside group. I realized that many students were struck deep with this comment and immediately had to voice opinions. As a reminder, I commented on my own experiences of “survival” by my friend’s standards of being able to be “Latina” in a place where Latinos are scarce in visibility compared to NY.  As I was asked by Dr. Pitt how is it possible for an advancement to occur for them, I simply replied that I try to fill them in on some “outsider” information to say the least. However as I continued to think upon that question, how is it that my friends at home who seem open-minded judge radically? In sharing my stories and relationship encounters they are flabbergasted that my associations and interests are not Latino. Thinking back at the time it never really occurred as to me why they were so shocked because in my defense I would say, ” Hey, I’m human and I like them. What else am I supposed to do, be a college student talking to 5 cats? Yeah right.”  Now that the statement brought to light that our own group tries to force us back in the box, I never really realized that, that’s what they were doing. I feel like I just had a late encounter because I was so blind towards my friends  being closed minded with other groups (who keep in mind are also minorities) when it comes to relationships and associates. Am I alone in this ideal of late encounters that never really seemed so prominent?

I want to start by commenting on the Cohort and Ethnicity post. Just because someone hangs around black people, it doesn’t make them ethnically black. It may be easy for a white person to say, “well Eminem can be considered black” for a hope that their is that possibility that a white person can be black… but its not. For this to hold true a person dark as all outside on the night of an eclipse would also have to be considered white if he  hung around white people all the time. And I seriously doubt that would hold true.

Now, wigger… I’ve heard both black and white people use this term… And for some reason neither always catch why its offensive to black people. The accepted definition is a white person that acts like a nigger. Even if you are trying to be politically correct about it, it is just as bad… A caucasion person that acts like an African American. What does it mean to act black? Does it mean to act ignorant, be loud, or dress a certain way? Use slang? Why does it have such a negative connotation? The word wigger implies that black people are indeed niggers/niggas? And that word historically has always had a negative connotation. Another example is “dressing ghetto”, but i won’t go into that now.

For the people such as Eminem that do surround themselves with white people, and black people that surround themselves with white people and so on, would you call them socially black or white? I have a problem with that term, but I was wondering how some people might define it. And do you feel that the term has a negative connotation?

While it is true that we should not have to be defined by census boxes into one category of identity, in America we are socially trained to do so. Further, many of us have benefited from the race box. It is confusing to me that many of us check the Hispanic box on an application because of the minority privileges that come with it, yet maintain a totally white master status when interacting with society, especially here on campus. For instance, a young lady in my social problems class last year admitted to checking Hispanic/Latino on her Vandy application to better her chances of admission and funding, even though her father is only 1/2 Mexican and has a gardening company in Beverly Hills. I personally did not initially have a problem with it until asked if she identified with her Hispanic culture and her reply was no, save for really important holidays. This story is told in response to the young lady’s comments in class who said that she also checks Hispanic/Latino despite having a white master status on campus. However, she actually values her Hispanic/ Latino heritage. And that, I really appreciate. These situations happen everyday, and so does the reverse, where mixed people may appear as a minority but they check white to receive old boy network gimmes.  White automatically gives you an upper hand. That check in “white, not Hispanic” gives access to opportunities that the “job ceiling” won’t let minorities rise beyond. Is it then okay? Is it ever okay to choose your race when it is beneficial to you and not remain just one. What are your thoughts?